The obvious common thread among the composers featured in tonight's
concert is that they were all French. But they also shared other
defining characteristics: all were innovators, and all excelled at
orchestration, the art of selecting instrumental combinations to
achieve a desired sound. Berlioz wrote one of the first (and still
definitive) books on the subject, and one of Ravel's greatest
accomplishments was his incomparable orchestral setting of
Mussorgsky's monumental piano composition, Pictures at an
Exhibition.

But in some ways Claude Debussy, one of the first ``impressionist''
composers, was the most gifted of the three. Like the French painters
whose work lent a label to Debussy's musical style, he preferred the
subtle to the blatant, quiet harmonies to blaring statements, and an
overall texture that gently encouraged the listener to become immersed
in the artist's experience. This led him into an exploration of
instrumental tone color that had never before, and perhaps has never
since, been so thoroughly developed.

One of the finest examples of Debussy's style is the three-movement
Nocturnes for orchestra. These pieces have a long and
somewhat checkered history; in 1892 the composer wrote that he was
nearly finished with Trois Scènes au Crépuscule (``Three
Twilight Scenes''), an orchestral triptych after poems by Henri de
Régnier. This version has been lost, as has been an 1894
incarnation intended as a violin concerto for Eugène Ysaÿe. But
the ideas resurfaced in 1899 to become the Nocturnes we know today,
and it is a testament to Debussy's mastery of instrumentation that it
is now impossible to imagine the work in any other form.

While working on the violin-solo version, Debussy commented that it
was ``a study in gray painting,'' but this description is really a
disservice. Certainly the work employs pastel tones rather than bold
colors, but there is no lack of variety. The warmth of Nuages
(``Clouds'') recalls a summer love affair, with the English horn
bringing languid caresses. Fétes (``Festivals'') is a
restrained yet joyous celebration, the sort that generates lifelong
memories without ever disturbing the neighbors. Finally,
Sirènes (``Sirens'') builds on a simple two-note motive to seduce
the listener into Debussy's river, just as dangerously as the
mythological beauties who have lured innumerable sailors to their doom
over the centuries. It is fortunate indeed that enraptured audiences
are given a moment after the concert to regroup, lest they drown
themselves in the thrall of French Impressionism's supreme
achievement!